Woburn Volunteers Search For Veteran's Missing Service Dog

WOBURN, MA -- It wasn't a good Veterans Day weekend for William "Chuck" Colacchio, a Green Beret who served in Vietnam. On Thursday, Sam, his service dog went missing, and despite a weekend of posts on social media from volunteers, there have been no sightings. Sam is a 85-pound Ridgeback and hound mix who went missing near the intersection of Cambridge and Bedford Roads in Woburn.

"Chuck is having an extremely hard time with this," said Melissa Loperfido Dutra, a volunteer with Missing Dogs Massachusetts, which has been coordinating the awareness drive to get Sam home. The group has scoured nearby woods and used a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera to look for Sam.

Sam was dragging a leash when he got loose at 10 pm Thursday night. People should also report any sounds of distress, because Sam was dragging his leash and may become trapped.

Anyone who has seen him is being asked to call (561) 768-2216 or (781) 718-7495. Sam is timid, so people who spot him are being asked to not call or chase but instead contact one or both of the above phone numbers.

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Photos courtesy of Missing Dogs Massachusetts.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).